Tax Planning

Tax planning is a key component of estate planning. In fact, historically much of the need for estate planning was caused by the estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes, which are often referred to as transfer taxes. In recent years, however, the amount that can be transferred by gift or upon death has significantly increased so only the most wealthy individuals and families will be subject to these transfer taxes. In fact, a person must now transfer property in excess of $5 million before these taxes will apply. For those individuals and families with amounts in excess of $5 million proper planning can significantly reduce and often eliminate transfer taxes. It has been said that transfer taxes are taxes on wealthy families who fail to plan. Elliot has the knowledge and skills necessary to significantly reduce his clients’ transfer tax burden. Some of the techniques used to minimize estate taxes include family partnerships, life insurance trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, and credit shelter trusts.

Although transfer taxes only affect a minority of the population, income taxes affect almost everyone. Elliot has worked with a wide variety of clientele ranging from World Series MVPs to retired individuals on a fixed income. He has the knowledge and understanding needed to customize income tax plans to meet each person’s specific situation.